Rachel Smith received several cancer treatments in 2023 . Photo courtesy of Todd Smith . ( Photo : UtahRadon . org )
Rachel had never smoked a day in her life . A lung cancer diagnosis made no sense until after her death when Todd began to research radon . He discovered radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non‐smokers , and conservatively , one in three Utah homes has dangerous radon levels . The only way to detect radon is to test for it . " This is such an easy thing to test for ‐ you have virtually nothing to lose and potentially everything to gain by being informed ," explained Todd . UtahRadon . org is offering one free radon test kit per household . To receive one , fill out this form .
The impact of Rachel ' s passing
" Without [ Rachel ], I am broken ," Todd told UtahRadon . org . " That said , it helps to talk about her , both for my own emotional perspective , and for the hope that it might be helpful to someone , someday ." After losing Rachel , Todd jumped into advocacy for radon testing to help others avoid the same outcome .
Todd ' s job as an oncology nurse adds an extra layer of passion for protecting those from the loss of a loved one from non‐smoking cancer . " As a nurse working in oncology , I can tell you that it ' s not just smokers that are developing lung cancer these days … it ' s also young , healthy individuals who had their whole lives ahead of them . The proven danger of prolonged radon gas exposure is nothing new , but the ability to mitigate that health risk has never been easier ."